


Wildflower

by Halos_Boat



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, No Smut, Strangers to Lovers, and theres baking, harry is a florist, literally just fluff, theres flowers, uh yeah
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-16
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:21:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24220477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Halos_Boat/pseuds/Halos_Boat
Summary: "So, since you're an expert on the whole flowers thing, what kind of flower do you think I'd be?"Would fit you," Harry amends, "and that would be sunflowers.""Okay... and why sunflowers?"Harry gazes down at him, running his fingers through Louis' soft fringe."Simple, because the sun follows you wherever you go."The one where Harry works as a florist at Wildflower and Louis is a customer who keeps coming back.
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson
Comments: 35
Kudos: 214





	Wildflower

**Author's Note:**

> I was in a rut and this was the result of it. Hope you enjoy! 
> 
> Thank you for reading and kudos and comments are always appreciated :)

  
It's sunny outside today which means that Harry gets to plant some new flowers in his small garden on the balcony once he gets home, provided it stays that way, of course.

 _Anne's_ , the coffee shop at the back, is already packed once Harry gets in and it's barely nine in the morning. He grins as he steps behind the counter to greet his mum with a kiss on the cheek.

"We're really full today," he comments, placing his purse underneath the counter, next to his mum's.

"There's a big conference in the building opposite us," she explains, pulling out two cappuccino mugs, "whole lot of them business people came in as soon as we opened."

"Oh," Harry scans the shop curiously. Sure enough there's numerous men, women and people dressed in suits or other sorts of formal clothing.

"Oh, and there's another lot of them," she huffs, "would you go tend to them? Troy will get the flower shop."

Harry nods, grabbing the small notepad and a pen before heading to the table the new lot of people are sitting at. He pulls out a handful of menus on the way there.

"Good morning and welcome to _Anne's_ ," he greets them with a smile and places the menus in front of each individual. There's four of them, he counts.

"I'll be your waiter today," he adds, "and I'll be back shortly to take your order."

"Thanks," the man to his right says, catching Harry's attention. It's an off-handed, textbook polite comment to make but for some reason he's just--- he just wants to look.

Normally he would pass them a short smile, barely glancing their way, before walking off but now---

Maybe it's the sound of their voice that catches his attention. It's soft and airy and raspy all at the same time. And then, _then_ , he looks at this person and Harry--- he doesn't mean to be crass or too forward but he's bloody beautiful.

Sharp cheekbones, blue, _blue_ eyes, slight stubble and, well, a nice-looking nose--- button-like, almost.

The thought shakes him and he blinks, catching the other three people at the table who started to stare at him, probably noticing the way _he_ started to stare at their colleague.

Flustered, Harry turns around quickly and briskly walks back to his mum to help her prepare the orders for other people.

Reluctantly, he does return to the table only a few minutes later, prepared to take their orders even though his cheeks are still burning red.

"Hello, have you decided what you're having today?"

"Hello, again," the one lady at the table speaks this time, lips bright red, "I'll just have a plain coffee and a bran muffin."

Harry writes it down then looks up again.

"I'll also have a black coffee and we'll take a turkey sandwich to share," a man with jetblack hair says, looking between the other colleague of his and finally---

"English breakfast tea with some chips---- the medium portion," the handsome stranger says, shutting his menu and looking up at Harry.

"Chips in the morning?" Harry blurts out before he can stop himself, his cheeks growing even hotter.

The stranger though, he simply smirks. "Yeah, been feeling for them."

"O-okay, yeah. Sorry," Harry stutters over his words, grabbing the menus from them only to drop Blue Eye's one back onto the table.

He reaches out for it again but the stranger hands it to Harry instead, a gentle and slightly concerned smile on his face.

"Sorry," Harry mumbles, their fingers touching briefly as he takes the menu, "um, it'll--- it'll be a few minutes--- I'll be back with your order in a few minutes, I mean."

He turns around before he can embarrass himself any further. His hands shake and his fingers tingle as he prepares what they'd each asked for. He sincerely hopes he doesn't do something stupid like drop the tray on the way there.

It's happened before, more times than he'd like to admit, but for valid reasons. Like the floor was still slippery, or he bumped into a table. Because a person is so beautiful is not a valid reason.

Thankfully, once their food and drinks are prepared, he takes it to their table without dropping anything. Though his hands do still shake ever-so-slightly as he places the plate or cup down.

He hopes and prays they don't notice it but he highly doubts it. Once he's done, he straightens up.

"Do you need anything else?" He asks

"Louis?" The lady turns to the handsome stranger, a smirk on her face and a quirk in her brow. "Need anything else?"

The stranger--- Louis--- rolls his eyes at her before looking at Harry. He shakes his head, giving him a smile. "I'm all good. Thank you."

"You're welcome," Harry says, the burn from his cheeks spreading to his neck, "I'll, um, leave you to it then."

"Right, yeah. Thanks," Louis says, the smile still on his face. Harry notices the way his eyes crinkle and with that, he walks away.

Harry just cleans out a cup for coffee when he turns around and sees Louis at the other side of the counter. He jumps back a little, surprised.

"Sorry," Louis apologises, a twinkle in his eye full of mirth, "I just came up to pay. Um, we need to head out so..."

"Oh, oh, of course," he jumps into action, placing the cup to one side, "card or cash?"

"Card," Louis says, pulling out his wallet and handing Harry his card.

Harry thanks him, giving him the machine to type his password.

"Sweetie, if you're done here, you can join Troy in front," his mum tells him before going back to creating the foam on the top of a cappuccino.

"Okay," he says, accepting the machine back from Louis.

"There's a front?" Louis asks curiously.

"Oh, uh, there's a flower shop out front," Harry says, still feeling flustered. It's just that he's _talking_ to Harry.

"Oh," Louis tilts his head, "that's cool."

"Yeah," Harry bites his lip, handing Louis his card and a slip back, "It's, uh, cool."

"I, um, I do need to get some for me mum's birthday," he clears his throat.

For the first time, Harry thinks Louis might be just as flustered and nervous as he is.

"Oh? Well, we have a good range," Harry says, "roses to daisies, all that jazz."

All that jazz? God, kill him now.

Louis chuckles. "Uh, I think I might come in tomorrow actually. Do you, um, do you work out front often?"

"Most of the time," Harry nods, "you can just ask for me if I'm not there."

Louis' grins widens. "Will do that--- wait, I don't know your name."

"Oh, it's, uh, Harry. Styles. Harry Styles."

"Okay, Harry Styles," he chuckles, "my name is Louis Tomlinson."

"Louis Tomlinson," Harry repeats, loving the way it rolls off his tongue, "it was nice to meet you, Louis."

"Likewise, Harry," he says, passing Harry a wink _, a wink_ , before walking off and out the door.

*

Harry is tending to the roses when Louis walks into the flower shop the next day. He's surprised that he came, if Harry's being honest. He left with a wink, sure, but that barely means anything. They'd hardly spoken so who knows what could have happened.

And now--- now he's actually here. Looking just as dapper as he did yesterday. This time he has a blazer on too, sleek black and tight.

He pushes up the sunglasses that rest on his nose up to his head, eyes scanning the small shop until they land on Harry.

Harry grins at him, raising his hand to wave at him but his finger gets caught on a thorn and he hisses, pulling back instead.

"Ow," Harry sighs, sucking on his finger. God, does he really have to embarrass himself every time in front of Louis? It seems to be a curse. Is that too dramatic for it being only the second time? Probably.

"Are you okay?"

Harry wants to crawl into a hole and die. He turns to Louis, smiling sheepishly.

"I'm fine," he says, "you're... here."

"Uh, yeah. Like I said I would be yesterday," Louis smiles, "and here you are..."

"Like I said I would be, yeah," Harry grins back, "um, you came to buy flowers for your mum's birthday then?"

"Uh, right, yeah. Any recommendations?"

"Do you know what she likes? Favourite colour or anything like that?"

"Um, she likes flowers... in general, I think?" Louis clears his throat. "Um, she likes yellow and red?"

"Are you sure?" Harry chuckles.

"Okay, wait I know she likes yellow and red. I do," Louis says.

"Okay, well, um, there's lots of those colours here," Harry hums, "like the roses that assaulted me."

Who the fuck says that?

Louis snorts though, an amused smile on his face. "Roses are good for her."

But Harry doesn't want this to be over. "Um, this will sound really weird but do you maybe have a picture of her? I mean, if you're comfortable with showing it me of course."

"Uh, can I ask why?"

Harry sighs. "Okay, so I have this thing where I can tell what flower would fit a person by looking at them."

"Oh you do, do you?" Louis raises an eyebrow at him, "alright, I'll buy it," he says, pulling out his phone from the inside blazer pocket.

"Here," Louis moves closer to him, showing him a picture of his mum. She's stunning, in Harry's opinion. Louis looks a lot like her.

"She's beautiful," Harry says, "you look a lot like her."

"Thanks," he smiles softly. "So, verdict?"

"Hmm, I think you should go with Lilies," Harry says decisively, "Tiger Lilies."

"Okay, and those are?"

"Oh, right," Harry chuckles, stepping passed him, "follow me."

"They're orange," Harry explains with a grin.

"Ah, red and yellow," Louis nods, "clever."

"You know your colours," Harry smirks, "I like."

"You like?"

"I--- like, I like that you know... your colours," Harry stumbles for words, then clears his throat, "anyways, here you go."

He lets Louis step in front of him, examining the Lilies. "Oh, you know what, I think she might really like these."

"Really?" Harry asks, grinning widely.

"Yeah, I think I'll take a bunch," he says, touching the petals softly.

Harry's breath stutters. "Okay, I'll get them wrapped up for you properly. You can come pay up front."

"Oh, are these not for free?"

The smile falls off of Harry's face. "I---"

"I'm joking, gosh," Louis chuckles, "come on, lead the way."

Harry let's out a relieved laugh, shaking his head. "Come on then," he says, walking to the till.

Louis pulls out his card again to pay and Harry instructs Troy to wrap up a bunch of Tiger Lilies for Louis. He then informs Louis about how to take care of them and tend to them so that they don't die.

"Hey, um, I think I'll come again soon," Louis tells him just as he's about to leave.

"Oh yeah?" Harry asks, praying he doesn't sound too excited about it.

"Yeah, I like the flowers here, I guess and I want to learn more and besides," he clears his throat, "the coffee at the back is really good."

Harry smiles slowly. "Thank you. I look forward to seeing you again soon then?"

"Yeah, yeah, um, I look forward to seeing you again too," he replies, staring at Harry meaningfully.

He's waving goodbye one more time before he's out the door. Harry sighs dreamily once he's gone. He leans forward, resting his chin on his palm.

"So, who was that handsome man then?" Troy pesters him, wiggling his brows.

Harry looks away. "No one. Just some guy I met at the coffee shop yesterday."

"Oh? Well, it looks like he's really into you."

"Yeah? You think?"

"Yeah," Troy nods, an amused look on his face, "both of you were all blushy and he couldn't stop staring at you."

Harry beams to himself, his face growing warmer.

"So, did you get his number or did you give him yours?"

"No," Harry sighs, disappointed, "I mean, we just met..."

"Yeah and you want to get to know him better, don't you?" He raises an eyebrow at Harry.

"Yeah," Harry mumbles, "I just--- I was a little occupied and distracted, okay? Besides, he could have asked for mine too."

Troy snorts. "Maybe he was occupied and distracted too."

Harry huffs out a laugh, shaking his head. The bell above the door of the shop rings and Harry gets up to help the new customer.

*

Much to Harry's surprise, Louis returns to _Wildflower_ every day during the whole week, including bright and early on a Sunday morning.

He comes back the day after he buys flowers for his mum and he tells Harry that she absolutely loved it and that Lilies are one of her favourites. Harry grins proudly.

"Told you I have a thing for that," Harry had said.

"Right, well, um, I figured I could get some for my sister too. So, do you mind helping me out again?"

And Harry couldn't really say no to that now, could he? It _was_ his job after all.

So he helped Louis pick out a nice set of classic red roses for his younger sister. Her name is Lottie, Harry learns, and she looks just like her mum from what Harry had seen so far.

Louis leaves with a shy grin again that day and Harry kicks himself once more for not asking for his number. But then--- _then_ \--- he comes back the next day. And he asks to help pick flowers out for another sister. This time her name is Fizzy, and he leaves with just one white orchid in his hand.

Turns out, Louis has a lot of siblings because by the end of the week, Harry's sold Lilies, roses, an orchid, gardenias and alstroemerias(for twins this time), tulips and on the very last day, he tells Harry that this is his youngest sibling and a brother this time, by the name of Ernest. He's quite young, just like the sibling of his from yesterday, Doris, so Harry is not sure if they can even appreciate flowers yet but he gets to see Louis again so he isn't complaining.

Harry ends up choosing pink Dalhias for him. Louis is paying up and Harry has so many words sitting on the tip of his tongue. He feels like he's going to explode.

He opens and closes his mouth numerous times but no words actually come out. He sees that Louis might be in a similar position because he stuffs his receipt into his pocket and stands there in front of Harry, looking like he also wants to say so much.

"Wh--" Louis starts but sighs, cutting himself off, "Um," he shakes his head, "I should probably go, I have this meeting then I'm going home to give these to Ernie..."

Harry feels a sense of disappointment settle into his gut. His whole body sags. "Right," Harry nods, "I'll... see you around then?"

"Um, yeah, I--- I think you will," Louis bites his lip, "so... bye for now?"

"Right, bye," Harry raises a hand up to give him an awkward, short wave. Louis let's out a sigh before turning around and walking out the door.

And fuck, what is Harry doing? Or, not doing, more like. He's had this whole week to say something, ask for his number, ask to hang out --- but he didn't say anything.

He's not going to let that happen again. "Fuck it," he mutters under his breath, untying his apron and placing it under the counter.

"Where are you going?" Troy asks, looking slightly alarmed.

"To ask out that beautiful guy," he says, turning around to look at Troy briefly, "take care of the shop for a few minutes, yeah?"

Troy smirks. "I'm more than capable," he waves him off, "go get your lover boy, H."

Harry grins. He turns around again to head to the door but then--- _then_ \--- Louis walks into the shop again, looking a little frazzled.

Harry stares at him. "Hi," he says, "what are you doing here? Did you forget something?"

"Yes," he breathes out, stepping closer. He places the bouquet of Dalhias down on a spare table next to a bunch of tulips. "Um, I don't know if you've noticed but I'm kind of, like, into you?"

Harry inhales sharply. "Are you now?" He teases.

Louis chuckles, looking down. He's right in front of Harry, his cheeks flushed pink slightly and the golden rays of sun kiss his skin beautifully.

Sunflowers, Harry thinks distractedly. Sunflowers would be his flower.

"I mean, I've come into your shop everyday for a week, even at the crack of dawn on the weekend," he chuckles.

Harry echoes his chuckle. "Eight in the morning?" He laughs.

"Too early for me on a weekend," Louis waves a hand in the air, "anyways, I just--- I wanted to know if you'd maybe want to go out with me some time? On, like, a date, if that wasn't clear."

Harry beams, biting on his bottom lip. "Um, I would like that, yeah," he agrees.

"Really?" Louis asks.

"Yeah, I'm kind of into you too," Harry admits.

"Thank God," Louis let's out a sigh of relief. Then something in his pocket beeps relentlessly. Harry gazes down at the device curiously as Louis pulls it out. "Okay, fuck, I really have to go. But--- I, um---"

"Louis," Harry cuts off his rambling, "Yes, you can have my number."

Louis smiles slowly, pulling out his phone and handing it to Harry. "You can just... type in your number."

"Okay," Harry breathes out, typing his number in and saving it under 'Harry the flower man' before handing it back to Louis with a shaky hand.

Louis chuckles at his phone. "Flower man?"

"In case you forget," Harry grins.

"Oh, I highly doubt that's possible but thank you anyways," Louis says, putting his phone back into his pocket, "So, I really do have to go now but I'll text about the details? For, uh, our date I mean."

Harry can't help but smile again. "Yeah, okay. I'm, Um, looking forward to that text then."

"Yeah," Louis smiles again, eyes crinkling, "see you soon, Harry." He waves, taking the bunch of flowers and turning around to walk out the shop again. This time, Harry feels much more satisfied watching him walk away.

Harry exhaled heavily, leaning against the nearby wall, shaking his head. So, he finally has a date with Louis fucking Tomlinson. After a week of pining. One week too long, in Harry's opinion.

"Wow, I think I have the front row seat in witnessing the greatest love story ever," Troy says, still behind the counter.

Holy shit, Harry forgot that he was there. He laughs breathily. "Shit, hi," he tells his friend, "Um, so, that just happened."

Troy laughs. "Yeah, that just happened, " he nods, "you're finally going out with the guy after fucking ages, god."

"One week," Harry amends with a pout.

"Yeah, _ages_ ," Troy says again, "anymore pining from either of you was going to _kill_ me." 

"Don't be dramatic," Harry rolls his eyes, straightening up and walking to the counter again, "now come on, help me with the new bunches of roses we got this morning."

"Fine," he huffs, "but whenever you do go out, you have to give me every single detail, okay? Nothing should be left out, from the cologne he's wearing to the way his tongue feels in your mouth."

Harry grimaces, staring at him. "God, you're weird," he shakes his head.

"Promise?" Troy asks him, giving him a pointed look.

Harry rolls his eyes again. "Fine, promise," he mutters, "now come help me."

"'Kay," he says happily, "let's hope you don't get pricked again because you're too distracted by the pretty boy."

Harry flushes, looking away. "Shut up," he mumbles.

Troy giggles behind him. Harry doesn't even care because he finally fucking has Louis' number in his phone and they're going out on a bloody date soon. Nothing else matters, as far as Harry's concerned.

*

Louis texts Harry later that day when Harry is at home, warming up some leftovers in the microwave.

 _Hi, sorry for_ _texting_ _you so late. Or is too early? I_ _don't_ _even know._

 _It's_ _Louis, by the way._

Harry giggles.

 _I know. Hello,_ _Louis_ _._

The microwave dings and Harry pulls out his food. He dips his fork into his noodles, taking it along with his phone to the lounge.

_Hi, Harry._

_So, I believe I asked you out earlier._

Harry grins, typing away on his phone with his oily fingers. How the hell did they even get messed?

_I believe you did._

Is Harry being too short? Maybe he's just overthinking things.

_So, are you busy Friday night?_

The stupid smile stays on Harry's face.

_No I'm not. What were you thinking about doing?_

_I was thinking about having that date of ours if you don't mind,_ he replies.

Harry shakes his head, already fond.

_I meant where do you want to go or what do you want to do, silly._

Louis takes a little longer to reply after that. Harry keeps seeing the word 'typing...' under his name but then it disappears.

He has three forkful of noodles before Louis' message finally comes.

_Okay honestly I haven't thought of anything yet so I'm not sure? But I do know that I'll pick you up at seven thirty , if that's okay?_

Harry is more than okay with that.

_That's fine by me. I'm prepared to be wooed._

Harry hopes it's not too forward.

_Good and I'm prepared to be wooed too ;)_

Harry fucking smiles again because he can't stop apparently. They text back and forth for the rest of the night about the weirdest of things. It goes from Harry's job to flowers and then to their uni days and the difference between beer and lager, after discussing the awkward _Friends_ episode with Ross and Mike, except their conversation is much more entertaining.

By the time Harry looks at his clock near his bed, it's half past midnight already. They'd been speaking for four fucking hours, non-stop. Honestly, Harry doesn't want to stop but he has to because he has work in the morning and he has to be up early.

So, reluctantly, he tells Louis that he has to go to sleep and Louis, he uses a pink heart emoji next to the word, 'goodnight' and Harry's heart flips. He feels like a bloody school girl.

He stuffs his smile into his pillow before finally falling asleep.

*

Friday comes quicker than Harry expected. He's a nervous mess as he closes the shop.

"You'll be fine," Troy tells him for what feels like the hundredth time, honestly you could fall right onto your face and spill a drink on his expensive Calvin Klein shirt and he'd still look at you like you frickin hung the moon or some shit."

Harry looks at him curiously. "He looks at me like that?"

Troy raises an eyebrow at him. "I've only seen him everyday for a whole week and yes, he does, I don't fucking get it and I'm a little jealous but whatever."

Harry grins down at his shoes as they walk on the pavement.

"How are you two already so smitten with each other? Honestly, it's gotten worse since you two started texting and it's only been, what? Three days?"

Three and a half, he wants to correct but he realises that it doesn't really matter to Troy.

"He's just... I don't know..." Harry shrugs, struggling to find the right words.

"Amazing? Fantastic? Beautiful? Handsome?" He offers.

"Oh, hush," Harry pushes him lightly, "we get along really well so far and he's really nice."

"Nice," Troy hums, "right."

Harry ignores the way his cheeks heat up. "Anyways, call me when you get home, okay? Or text me, whatever."

"I'll be texting you because you'll be getting ready to go out on your date," Troy tells him then pats his shoulder, "see you tomorrow, mate. Good luck."

"Thanks," Harry says. He watches Troy get into his car and drive off. Harry starts his walk home, running over the clothes in his wardrobe, deciding what to wear.

Once he's home, he decides on his beige trousers and striped jersey vest over a plain shirt. On a whim, he grabs the pearl necklace and puts it on too. He doesn't wear it too often because he's in a hurry more often than not, and he forgets, but he makes sure he wears it for special occasions.

Does this count as a special occasion? Perhaps.

Harry texts Louis his address and tells him to send him a text when he's here so Harry can meet him downstairs. He's not--- like, he's not ashamed of his place or anything. He wants Louis to come and see his place one of these days but just not now.

God, he's just overthinking things again, isn't he?

Quickly, he tells Louis that he could come up too if he'd like to. But Louis declines, saying that they have a reservation somewhere at quarter to eight.

They still haven't really discussed what they're doing today. If he's being honest, he doesn't really care as long as he gets to spend some time with Louis.

Now, he knows that they're probably going out to a restaurant. Okay. That's standard, safe. Harry doesn't mind it. Most first dates start out at restaurants anyways. And Harry likes eating too so there's that.

He meets Louis downstairs about ten minutes later. He's wearing a buttoned shirt, that Harry is sure is the Burberry pattern, and black trousers. His hair looks much softer though. He looks beautiful, as always.

"Hey," Louis greets him, "you look great."

Harry smiles. "Thanks. You do too."

"Okay, so, shall we?" He asks, grinning and holding the car door opened.

"We shall," Harry says, heading into the car. It smells fresh, like it's new, almost. He wonders if it is.

"So, um, where are we going?" Harry asks as Louis starts up the car and drives off.

"It's this really cool place. You'll see when we get there. A little further away but I think you'll like it," he smiles, looking excited.

"Okay. It's a restaurant, I'm guessing?"

"Yep. But a special one."

He doesn't offer anything else so Harry doesn't push for more, choosing to wait until they get there.

They make small talk while they drive there, asking about their weeks and their day. It's comfortable, Harry realises. And he doesn't know why it surprises him so much. Maybe because he's been a nervous mess the few times before this that he's met Louis and he was like that only minutes before but now... It's just.. gone.

They get to a part of the city that Harry doesn't recognise. "Is this the part where you take me into an alleyway and murder me?"

Louis sputters. "Oh my God, no," he chuckles, "it's just this really fancy secluded place."

"Secluded place?" Harry repeats with a nervous laugh.

"Oh, just hush," Louis tuts, "hold on, would you?"

"Okay," Harry laughs.

They stop outside a place that definitely looks fancy. He can tell just by the clothes the waiters are wearing outside and the bright lighting that's shining right out of the restaurant.

"What is this?" Harry asks, mostly to himself.

"Let's go see," Louis says.

"Okay," Harry bites his lip, getting out of the car.

Louis asks for a reservation under 'Tomlinson'. The waiter nods in confirmation and leads them inside and---

"Holy shit," Harry breathes out.

It's absolutely beautiful inside. It looks--- it looks like a greenhouse inside. There's flowers _everywhere_ and it's bright, decorated with fairy lights, the tables and chairs white outdoor furniture. It just--- it works.

"Do you like it?" Louis asks.

"I love it," Harry says quietly, "this is gorgeous."

"Sir," the waiter says, "your table."

Harry looks at where the waiter is standing. They have a table near a window covered partially by ivy. Might not be everybody's cup of tea but Harry loves it.

Harry is still looking around in awe as they get seated.

"I'm so glad you like it," Louis breathes out.

"I do. How--- how did you think of this place? How did you find it?"

"I remember you saying that you loved the greenhouse at your nan's so I did some research and found this place."

Harry's heart feels fuzzy. "You remember that?"

When did he even mention that?

"Yeah, when you were telling me about the gardenias, remember? You said they'd grow beautifully in your nan's greenhouse and how much you miss it."

"I can't believe you remember that," Harry says quietly.

It was barely a mention, really. Harry rambles on about the things he loves, and one of those things happens to be flowers, flora, whatever you may call it. He didn't even realize he'd spoken about it.

"Well, yeah," Louis blushes, "I listened to everything you say."

Harry is so touched by it, he doesn't even know what to say. "That's--- thank you."

"You're welcome," he chuckles, "Okay, so this is a vegetarian place, I hope you don't mind."

"No, no, I'm vegetarian actually," Harry says, "so I really don't mind."

"Oh, I didn't know that. Interesting. What made you become vegetarian?"

"Um, I asked my mum when I was like, five, I think? Where the chicken on my plate came from and she didn't really know what to say and then I asked her when I was at my nan's and feeding the chickens whether those were the same on my plate and my older sister, Gemma, said it is and needless to say, I was horrified and stopped eating meat entirely."

Louis blinks. "Wow, well done to five-year-old Harry."

"Yeah, never looked back. How about you?"

"Vegetarian? No, I'm afraid not. I'm sorry?"

"No, it's all right," Harry says quickly, "I don't really care."

"Okay," Louis smiles.

Louis is a bit restless and jittery even after they get their food. It's not awkward or anything, because they still carry out good conversation throughout but Harry notices the way his hands twitch and voices shakes.

"Louis, are you okay?" He asks when Louis almost spills his water on the table for the second time.

Louis sighs. "Okay," he drops his fork, "I'm sorry I know I'm acting all weird but, um, it's just--- you're so beautiful it's making me a little dizzy if I'm being honest."

Harry let's out a surprised laugh, grinning down bashfully at his half empty plate.

"Sorry, that was probably too forward or, like, weird," Louis sighs, dropping his head into his hands, "I'm just trying not to screw this up."

"Louis," Harry calls out until he looks at Harry through the peeks of his fingers, "you just described what I've been feeling since I've met you. Honestly, why do you think I've been such a clutz?"

Louis drops his hands down, shaking his head. "Okay, well, we've both kind of made fools out of ourselves then but for the record, I found it cute."

"Me being clumsy and unable to speak coherently?"

"Yeah, and you got all blushy about it."

"You mean like how you are at the moment?" Harry smirks.

Louis' cheeks turn pinker. "Touché."

He's a little better after that, lighter. And Harry--- he has a lot of fun. Something he hasn't had in a first date in ages. Louis is--- he's wonderful. He's smart, he's kind, he's thoughtful and he's funny. At one point he gets Harry laughing so hard, he snorts juice out of his nose which scales him up on the whole embrassing himself thing.

Louis cackles about it all the way back to the car. Harry doesn't mind though, he likes seeing Louis smile--- laugh--- whatever it may be. By the time they're driving back to Harry's place, he finds himself laughing about it too.

"The waiter looked so worried," Louis shakes his head.

"Because he thought I was choking," Harry squeaks, utterly humiliated.

"He thought you were throwing up and then choking on your own puke."

"Ew," Harry grimaces, "hey, that reminds me, I don't know what you do."

"Oh, uh it's nothing special. I'm a pharmacist."

Harry blinks. He doesn't know why but he didn't expect that.

"What? Boring, innit?"

"No, no, just... not what I pictured you doing but that's not--- it's not a bad thing, of course."

"Yeah, well, I do like what I do, surprisingly enough but I do have my hobbies."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I play footie, like writing poems, songs and all that, and I like cooking too."

Harry swears his soul nuts or something to that effect. 

"What do you like doing?" Louis asks him.

"I like writing too, love cooking, not very good at footie though," he chuckles, "but I like baking, I draw a little and then there's gardening but I think you could guess that."

"You know I'm really shit at gardening. And drawing for that matter."

"And baking?"

"I will beat you in a bake off," Louis tilts his head as if he were challenging Harry.

Harry snorts. "Oh, fine. It's on then. I'll have you know, I was awarded best baker when I was in school."

"By who?"

"Doesn't matter who," Harry mumbles.

"It was your mum, wasn't it?"

Harry's cheeks flush. "No."

"Right," Louis chortles.

"I promise you I can bake better than you."

Louis glances at him, as if he were thinking about it. "Fine. What are we baking then?"

"What?" Harry blinks.

"You promise you'd bake better than me so you have to prove yourself, don't you think?"

Harry bites his lip. "Okay, fine. How about... a standard chocolate cake?"

Louis wrinkles his nose. "No, don't like chocolate cake."

Harry pouts. "Who doesn't like chocolate cake?"

"I had too much of it as a kid," he sighs, "is this a deal breaker now?"

"I thought we just planned our next date."

Louis comes to a stop outside of Harry's place. "Oh, did we?"

"Yeah, I hope so," Harry is still chewing on his bottom lip.

"Second date is a bake off?"

Harry huffs out a laugh. "I think that sounds like a great date, if you say yes..."

"Ah, this is going to be you trying to woo me then?"

"By beating you at baking? If it floats your boat, sure."

"Okay, okay, cocky," Louis laughs, "as long as we get to bake what I choose."

Harry sighs. "Fine, I guess so. As long as we do it at mine?"

"Deal," Louis agrees, ending it with a soft sort of look.

Harry feels his stomach swirling, looking back at Louis. He swallows. He's not sure how to go about this.

He's ended first dates with a kiss before but this first date is not _just_ a first date to him. He can't quite say why but it feels... heavier, almost. He just knows it's more meaningful this time 'round.

"So, I'll see you, um, when exactly?" Louis asks, a little shifty on his seat.

Harry looks away from Louis, clearing his throat. "Um, Friday again? If you're free."

"Yeah, just text me the time and I'll be here."

"Okay. Um, thank you for tonight. I really really enjoyed it. I can't believe you found a place like that," he shakes his head.

"Well, like I said, I'm really into you," Louis says quietly, "so I wanted to... you know... impress you and stuff."

Harry looks down, feeling a smile take over his features. "Consider me utterly impressed by you, Louis Tomlinson."

"Yeah? Only after one date?"

Harry's eyes meet Louis' again. "Yeah," he says softly, "only after one date."

"Well," Louis swallows, "guess you have to hold up now, don't you?"

"Oh, you'll be impressed," Harry says, somewhat playfully, "I'll, uh, I should get going but, uh, thank you again for everything."

"You don't have to thank me. I did have a good time too after all, didn't I?"

"Did you?"

"I did. Absolutely, yeah. Looking forward to the next one."

"I am too."

They stare at each other, the air still uncertain but not in a bad way. Not at all.

"I'll see you soon, Louis," Harry finally says, popping his door opened.

Louis smiles again and Harry's heart flutters. "I'll see you for our next date, Harry."

Harry walks up to his door with a grin plastered across his face that doesn't leave, even when he tries to go to sleep. He's so fucking smitten and he can't even tell you how or when it happened. Just that it did.

*

Louis texts him everyday for the next week leading up to their next date. The morning after their first date, Harry wakes up to a sweet one from him that made his whole fucking week already.

_Had a really good time last night. Thank you for saying yes. Can't wait for our second date. Expecting to be wooed ;)_

Harry doesn't know when last he'd used his phone so much, if he's being honest. He has it with him even while he's at work, evidently being a huge distraction but he can't help it.

Louis is distracting. He knew that from day one. Clearly that's not changing any time soon. He's honestly not sure how Louis works because it feels like he's texting Harry all the time and replying to him almost immediately.

And none of it goes unnoticed by his mum, who teases him relentlessly about it. If he so much as looks at his phone she'll make kissy noises as if she's five-years-old.

Troy is insufferable too but Harry expected that from him. He's already their number one fan. Even came up with what he calls a 'ship name' for them.

He leaves early on Friday, leaving Troy in charge for the next two or three hours, and goes to the store to get the ingredients for their bake off. Bloody bake off. Who does that?

Louis insisted that they make carrot cake, much to Harry's dismay. He hates carrot cake. It's the only cake he doesn't like. But he couldn't say no to Louis because he agreed that Louis could choose.

He should have said that he was allergic or something but then he would have felt guilty for lying about it.

So with a wrinkled nose, Harry gets the ingredients for a carrot cake from the grocery store. Despite going to make something he absolutely despises, he's still happy and excited to see Louis again.

He's never felt this excited for a second date before. Even with his first boyfriend, whom he had a crush on for years. That didn't end too well though.

Harry doesn't put on anything too fancy, aside from the snazzy red and pink apron he'd gotten from Gemma last Christmas that says 'Kiss the baker' on it.

It's possible that he wore it with another goal in mind that he hopes Louis will get.

The more the week had gone by, the more he'd regretted not kissing him after their first date. They were both kind of back and forth about it though so maybe it's good that they didn't, in hindsight.

He just... really fucking likes Louis. He hasn't known him for a long time so part of him feels stupid for being so smitten so soon. But he can't help it. Louis is... everything and more. It's crazy and it's weird but Harry doesn't feel scared, he wants to dive head first into all of this and see where it goes. Life is too short not to.

Louis comes in an hour after everything is ready, right on time for what they agreed to. He looks so cosy that Harry just wants to hug him, so he does. It's only as he's hugging Louis that he realises he's doing it and they haven't really done that before.

"Hey, love," he says, hugging him back, thankfully, "brought some stuff."

"You didn't have to bring anything though. I told you," Harry huffs, pulling away, heart still pounding at the nickname.

"It's just some wine," Louis says, handing him a bottle of cabernet sauvignon.

"Oh, my favourite. Thank you."

"Yeah, I remember you ordering it last week," Louis says, pulling off his coat.

Once again, Harry is kind of touched that he remembers something like that.

"Thank you," Harry says, "you can come with me to the kitchen."

"Yes, sir," Louis mumbles, following behind him, "you have a nice place."

"Thanks. It's not much but it's home."

"It's rustic. I like it."

"Is that your way of saying that it's old?" Harry feigns a gasp, clutching his chest.

"No, no, it's _rustic_. I really do like it. And your kitchen is so clean."

Harry snorts, putting the wine to the side. "Thanks?"

"No, just don't keep my kitchen very clean, I'm afraid."

"Well then, thanks. I try my best."

"You're going to be horrified when you come to my place. It's not this tidy."

"I'm not fussy," he lies.

"If you say so," Louis raises an eyebrow, "right then, let's get this bake off started."

"Okay, fine. Right to it then," Harry wipes his hands over his apron, praying Louis reads the words stitched onto it.

"Do you have an extra apron for me?"

"Yeah, top drawer by the bread bin," Harry points to it, bending down to switch the oven on.

When he straightens up again, he sees that Louis has found the apron of his with a peach emoji on the front. He barks out a laugh. He has a few so he didn't think Louis would choose that one.

"What? Does it not suit me?" Louis pouts, glancing down at it.

"No, it does," Harry says quickly, "I just didn't expect you to choose that one."

"Have you not seen me bum? Of course I had to choose this one."

Harry's cheeks go red. "No, I've seen it..." He trails off.

"Cheeky," Louis grins, "get it? Cheeky? Ass? Bum?"

"Oh my god," Harry laughs, wiping a hand over his face. There Harry's soul goes again, nutting.

"What? It's funny. You're laughing," he pokes Harry's ribs.

Harry squirms away and Louis' eyes flash with mirth. "You're ticklish."

"No," Harry says quickly. Too quickly.

"I'm going to file that away for later," he smirks, "come on let's get our baking gloves on and do this shit."

"Fine," Harry murmurs, giving Louis his ingredients, "we're using the recipe we both don't know, right?"

"Yep," Louis confirms, popping his 'p'.

So they get to the baking part and things don't go too well for Harry. He puts in an extra cup of flour, he's not sure how the hell that happens, and his carrots are too thick but for Louis, he sweeps through it like a pro which is so unfair.

And it's so hot. Which is probably why Harry messes up so much. _See_. He's distracted because of Louis. Again.

Eventually, their cakes go into the oven and Louis has a cocky smirk on his face which makes Harry think that he probably knows he's won this bloody thing already.

"I hate carrot cake anyway," Harry grumbles, leaning against the counter with his arms crossed.

"You don't like carrot cake?" Louis squawks, "why not?"

"Because it's weird and the texture makes me uncomfortable and it's a vegetable in a cake it's weird," he whines.

"It's delicious, is what it is," Louis frowns at him, "you know when I was younger, I used to say that I'd only date girls who eat carrots."

"What?" Harry snorts.

"Yeah, my friends asked me what I looked for in a girl and that's what I said."

"That's the best you could come up with?" Harry chuckles.

"I was a panicked baby gay. I didn't know what else to say. Of course, they found out I don't in fact like girls who eat carrots when they caught me snogging a footie player and realised it was just the carrots that I liked and not the girls."

Harry barks out another laugh. "That one was horrible."

"It was funny," Louis insists, "hey, do you wanna break out some of that wine?"

"Oh, is my company that bad that you need alcohol already?"

"No, but your cake might be so I need to be as prepared as possible."

Harry gapes at him then pouts. "Mean," he mumbles, grabbing the bottle of wine.

"Sorry, love," Louis says but he's still grinning. Harry doesn't really care because the way Louis said 'love' is ringing through his ears.

They opt to sit on the floor, next to each other, passing the bottle of wine between them and munching on some crisps.

"We can order something to eat if you'd like," Harry offers, amused at the way Louis is devouring the crisps.

"Hm, maybe later," he says over a full mouth, "we have cake to eat first don't we?"

"Okay, cake first then," Harry agrees. He reaches for the packet of crisps but Louis pulls it away, to his side.

"Hey," Harry whines, "you can still share, you know?"

"Nope," Louis says simply.

"Why not?" Harry huffs.

"Because I said so," he shrugs.

Harry stares at him in disbelief. Then the oven timer goes off. He glares playfully at Louis before getting up and putting his oven mitts on. He takes out both of the cakes, poking them in the middle. Both come out clean but Harry's sunk a little in the middle.

"Oh, let me see," Louis says, getting to his feet and standing next to Harry, "Oh, I'm guessing that one is yours."

Harry sulks, nodding. "Do I get to at least have some crisps now?"

Louis sighs, leaning against the opposite counter. "Tell you, what; you can have some if you kiss me."

Harry inhales sharply, his whole body feeling like it stuttered. He gnaws on his bottom lip before stepping closer to Louis.

"You know, actually, I'm the one that's wearing the 'Kiss the baker' apron so I feel like maybe you should be the one kissing me."

Louis rolls his eyes. "How about you come a closer and we can kiss _each other_?"

Harry giggles under his breath, closing the distance between them and just--- falling into a kiss with Louis. Louis is holding his waist tightly, squeezing his side and Harry's hands cover the sides of Louis' face gently.

They press their lips together at first, timid and soft, but then they meet again and it's a little more intense, desperate. Harry runs his tongue over Louis' lips and feels a spark run through his body, right down his spine, when their tongues meet.

He didn't expect it to get so intense so quickly. He expected something sweet, shy and quick, but he definitely isn't complaining. Louis tastes bitter like wine and salty like crisps and perfect. Harry doesn't want it to ever stop but he has to pull back a little to breathe.

Their noses touch. Harry feels like he wants to say something but he doesn't even know what to say. He's taken aback when Louis kisses him again, a little more fierce to the point where Harry whimpers against him.

Louis swallows the sound, moaning back softly. Their tongues meet again and Harry is sure he's pressing Louis way too harshly into the counter but Louis doesn't seem to mind.

He pulls Harry closer to him, his hands warm, even over Harry's jumper. Or maybe his whole body is just on fire, he's not sure and he doesn't really care at this stage.

"Harry," Louis breathes, pulling away, air hot over Harry's lips.

"Yeah?" Harry asks, still dazed from their kiss, not ready for it to be over.

"We forgot to make the icing."

Harry huffs out a laugh along with Louis.

"My cake is shit anyways so I don't even care," Harry murmurs.

Before Louis can protest or brag about how his isn't shit, Harry shuts him up with another kiss.

*

"I hate how happy you are recently," Troy grimaces at him.

"Gee, thanks," Harry rolls his eyes.

"The whole world is just sunshine and rainbows now, isn't it?"

Harry bites back a smile. He can't deny that. The past month with Louis has been incredible. More than incredible. He's sweet, he's kind, understanding, funny, generous, and not to mention drop dead gorgeous.

Harry is not gonna lie. He's on cloud nine. He's about to reply when he feels a kiss being placed on his cheek and arms wrap around his waist.

"Hello, love," he says, kissing Harry's cheek again.

Speaking of the devil. Harry turns around in his arms, kissing him soundly. He pulls away when Troy makes gagging sounds behind him.

Harry glares at him but Louis seems preoccupied, still kissing Harry's cheek in quick successions.

"Hi," Harry grins at him, kissing Louis again, "what are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to come say hi," Louis murmurs, pecking his lips, "so hi."

"Hi," Harry grins, "I really missed you."

"You saw me yesterday," Louis says, but he's smiling just as much as Harry is.

"Sorry, being a little needy, aren't I?" Harry leans forward, thumb running over Louis' cheekbone.

"It's okay. I like that you need me, makes me feel a little less needy,"

Harry snorts. "Are you free tonight?"

"I am," Louis confirms, "why?"

"Date night at mine?"

"Hmm, will you be baking again?" He wrinkles his nose.

Harry rolls his eyes. "Only cooking."

"Okay, then I guess I'll come."

"Thanks," Harry grumbles, "never baking for you again, I hope you know."

Turns out, Harry forgot to put the sugar in his cake too, and needless to say, that cake was horrible. Louis, the sneaky bastard, saw that he neglected the sugar but didn't want to say anything about it because he's a competitive little bum. That's why.

"I'm sorry, love. Never letting you live it down though. You spoke a big game and then..."

Harry groans, bowing his head. "Okay, stop it it's been weeks."

"Aw, baby, it's only been, like, three," Louis says, kissing the side of his head.

Harry looks up and glares at him. Louis kisses him and he melts into him again.

"Harry," Troy calls out, "customer needs you."

Harry sighs, pulling away from Louis.

"Wait, I'm a customer. I need you," Louis pouts at him.

"Babe, you're not a customer," Harry smiles gently at him, kissing his cheek, "I'll see you later, yeah?"

"Fine," Louis huffs, "think about me..."

"Always think about you," Harry bites his lip, kissing him one more time.

"Bye, love."

"Bye, babe. You have to go back to work too, you know?"

"Yeah," Louis groans, "fine, fine. I'll leave you to it."

Louis leaves him with a quick kiss and heads out the door, waving at Troy too.

"So there's already cute petnames huh?" Troy asks as he walks towards him.

"Yeah, just kinda happened," Harry shrugs, "so customer?"

"Yeah, at the till," he points.

Harry goes to two women, who want help picking out flowers for their wedding anniversary.

When he gets back to Troy, Troy is de-stemming some roses. He keeps looking at Harry, like he was earlier.

"What?" Harry finally asks him with an exasperated sigh.

"Nothing," he shrugs, "you just haven't stopped smiling. I'm guessing it's about Louis."

Harry blushes, giving him a one-shoulder shrug. "He's just... perfect and I'm happy, okay? Sue me."

"Sure, sure. Aren't you worried though?"

"Worried?" Harry repeats, frowning at him.

Troy glances at him. "Just... it's perfect and all that--- I wanted to ask you earlier--- aren't you worried that it's going to stop?"

"What do you mean?"

"You ever heard that saying 'too good to be true'? Honeymoon phase? Aren't you afraid of those things? Of it being over?"

Harry chews on the inside of his cheek. "I mean... I'm kind of just enjoying what we have. I don't--- I don't really think about that stuff unnecessarily."

Troy hums, eyes narrowed slightly. "It's just--- you need to be careful, okay? You guys seem to be getting serious fast so... yeah, be careful."

"We're not getting serious fast," Harry denies, "I just--- we just--- really like each other and I'm just going with that... you know... flow."

Troy bites his lip and looks back down at the roses. He doesn't say anything else so Harry leaves it be.

Later that evening, once Louis is at his place, what Troy said earlier still bothers him and Louis, even though he's only known Harry for a little while, picks up on it immediately.

"What's on your mind, love?" Louis asks him, poking his ribs.

Harry squirms away from him. "No poking," he mumbles, "and, um, Troy said something to me earlier."

"Yeah? What?"

"He just... He asked if I'm worried that things between us are too... perfect and if it'll end? I don't know something like that."

Louis' hand grabs his, their fingers intertwining. "I mean, are you worried about that?"

"No."

"Then why is it bothering you?"

"Because I'm scared that you might be worried about that," Harry admits, "we're doing really well and I'm really happy with you."

Louis smiles. "I'm really happy with you too."

"Yeah?" Harry asks, squeezing his fingers. 

"Yeah, I mean, I really like you and that's all I'm sure of right now. There's no point worrying about things we aren't sure of, you know? I want to be with you that's all that matters to me, at least..."

Harry grins softly, "that's all that matters to me too."

"Lovely. Now can we please cuddle? I'm getting needier than you."

Harry blushes, moving closer to Louis. "I don't think that's a word."

"It is," Louis insists, letting his head fall onto Harry's shoulder, their hands still entwined. 

Harry just rolls his eyes. No point arguing with him, is there? He let's it be, kissing Louis' head.

*

The next few weeks with Louis are amazing.

They're different. Day and night, fire and water, roses and thorns. But just like each of those things, one can't exist without the other. There can't be the power and the beauty of fire without velocity and strength of water, there won't be the bright of day if there wasn't a dark of night, a rose wouldn't grow without it's thorns.

They just _fit_ together.

Everyone around him sees that there's a change in his mood all the time too. His mum is over the moon, aside from the one time she catches them snogging in the pantry. Though she still adores Louis. He charmed her thoroughly and she asks about how he's doing more than Harry.

He doesn't mind though. He loves how quickly his family loves Louis. _He_ just fits.

Part of Harry still hears Troy's words from weeks ago but it just--- it doesn't _matter_. The longer he spends with Louis, kisses him, touches him, hugs him--- it feels more and more real.

It's late in the evening when Louis comes home --- well, to Harry's--- which may as well be his second home now. He's tired; eyes dark and skin pale.

Immediately, he collapses onto the sofa, head first into Harry's lap. He nuzzles his nose into Harry's stomach, cuddling close.

"Shitty day at work?" Harry asks him, pushing the hair back from his forehead.

Louis nods, sighing through his nose. "Customers can be shit sometimes."

"Most of the time," Harry frowns, "I'm sorry, honey."

"Honey," Louis repeats with a tired smile, "you're just," he shakes his head, "you're so lovely, you know that?"

Harry flushes red. He smiles down at Louis. "You are too."

"Tell me about something interesting? Just... feeling horrible. Need to hear your voice."

Harry heart stutters. "Like what, babe?"

"Talk about your flowers," Louis hums, eyes drifting shut as Harry plays with his hair.

He tells Louis about the new batch of dragonsnaps growing in his mum's garden and how he was scared to touch them when he was a little kid because he was scared that they'd bite his fingers off.

"I used to be scared of roses," Louis mumbles, "the thorns used to cut me all the time so I hated them."

"Aw. Sad," he pouts, "when did you stop hating them? Because when we spoke---"

"I said I loved them, I know," he puffs out air from his cheeks.

"So--- wait, but, Lou---"

"No, I know. I do love them now," Louis kisses his palm.

"So when did that suddenly change?" Harry asks curiously.

"When you sent a bunch of roses to my workplace," Louis grins, a pink blush to his cheeks, "and then you started sending more of them, along with others, so I started to... you know... grow fond of them. Somewhat."

Harry beams at him. "Well, I'm glad I could do that for you then. They're really lovely and so are you."

"I already called you lovely," Louis says, turning so that he's facing Harry's tummy again, "come up with some original content please."

Harry snorts. "Sorry, fusspot," he flicks Louis' ear playfully.

Louis retaliates by nipping his stomach over his shirt.

"Louis," Harry laughs, pushing him away a bit, "you're insufferable, I swear."

"Sorry, sorry," Louis pulls at his waist and snuggles closer, "okay, wait a second now. I'm curious about something."

"Yeah?" Harry tilts his head. 

"So, since you're an expert on the whole flowers thing, what kind of flower do you think I'd be?

"Would fit you," Harry amends, "and that would be sunflowers."

"Okay... and why sunflowers?"

Harry gazes down at him, running his fingers through Louis' soft fringe.

"Simple, because the sun follows you wherever you go."

Louis smiles softly up at him.

"You've sent me those before," he says.

"I did. We don't get them much. If we got them more I'd send them everyday."

"You're a sap," Louis says with a teasing smile but sparkling blue eyes, as if he can't believe what Harry is saying.

"Just telling you the truth," Harry shrugs.

Louis grins up at him again. "Thank you," he mumbles, closing his eyes again.

"Thank you?"

"For saying yes."

Harry doesn't know why the words send shivers down his spine.

*

Waking up next to Louis has slowly become one of his favourite things. He's just so, so beautiful.

There's only a light ray of sunlight shining through Louis' grey curtains and it hits over Louis perfectly. He looks like he's glowing. His hair falls over his face and Harry would move it but he just... he doesn't want to touch anything. Like touching something would destroy a masterpiece.

That's what they say, isn't it? When you go to one those museums and they have those paintings, like the Mona Lisa, you're not meant to touch it. It's priceless.

He is priceless, isn't he?

God, he really shouldn't be having these thoughts after only a few months of dating. It can't be normal, can it? But he's not going ignore it or push it away either.

Louis' snoring a little bit which Harry finds amusing more than anything. He grins.

"Do you even blink?" Louis rasps, opening one eye at him.

Harry swallows. "Only sometimes."

"When you're not being a scary creepy... frog."

"Frog?" Harry laughs, moving closer to him.

"Have you seen your face when you're all fond and in love?"

Harry feels his breath catch. "I never said I was in love with you."

Did he? Did he slip somehow and say something out loud that was as sappy as comparing him to the damn Mona Lisa?

"You didn't say you're fond of me either, did you?" Louis leans up on one elbow, staring down at him.

"No," Harry whispers.

"But I can still tell," Louis says, tucking a piece of hair behind his ear, "just from the way you look at me..."

"I--" Harry laughs, "I don't even know what to say."

"I do," Louis gives him a lop-sided smile.

"What?" Harry asks quietly.

"I think I, you know, love you. I _know_ _I_ do."

Harry bites back a grin.

"You have to say it back now or else I'm gonna look like a needy fool," Louis whines, dropping his head onto Harry's shoulder.

Harry giggles. "I love you too, you fool."

Louis' head shoots up. "Really?"

"Yeah," Harry says seriously, mirth gone from his features. Because it's true. "I love you."

Louis grins at him, eyes crinkling, hair glowing in the honey sun. Their lips meet, Harry's body weakens and he knows this is what falling in love is like and he's embracing it. It feels like coming home.  
  
  
  
  



End file.
